Crazy Old Baglady’s Bean & Ham Soup (Named after my mother.)

“
My mother was very poor growing up, and even though years later she had plenty, she still stuck to her old ways. She had beautiful clothes, but chose to dress very casual, sometimes even sort of sloppy looking. So we gave her the nick name of Crazy Old Baglady. (It was a family joke). Our food was never really fancy, but man was it delicious! Momma sure could cook! I guess that all the love and flavor she added was due to not having the means to make gourmet food. In memory of my mom, the "Crazy Old Baglady"!"

Instructions

To soak beans: In a large bowl, cover beans with water by 2 inches and let soak for 8-10 hours (overnight) and drain.
In a large heavy pot, combine beans with ham hock or the chunk ham, bay leaf and 12 cups of water. Bring to boil and reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until beans are just tender. Stir in onion, celery, carrot, potato and garlic. Simmer for another hour or until soup is very thick. Remove ham hock and strip off meat from bone, discarding the rind and fat. Stir meat into soup and season with salt and pepper. Stir in parsley and serve hot.